Jeremiah 50:1-51:64 | Prophecies Against Babylon

At the 4th year of Zedekiah’s reign (Jer. 51:59-64), this prophecy was delivered by Letter to the Jews in Babylonian Captivity (the Good Figs). Babylon’s complete and total annihilation was prophesied at length with shocking detail and intensity!

Truly staggering judgments against Babylon were uttered, inculcated, and illustrated… The overall reason why is obvious, but (thinking in context) why was this word given in the 4th year of the Zedekiah’s reign? As a jealous Husband, God was seeking to capture the heart of His people who were Captive in Babylon. The motives for this word are very similar to the motivations discussed in context to Jeremiah 25:1-38. At this time, only 4 years into Zedekiah’s reign, the people in Captivity were not repenting. The Good Figs still weren’t good! Hence, when God spoke of their repentance, faith, and restoration, the prophetic illustration was in the future tense. Prophesying of the successful end of the Tribulation Period, it was written,

In those days, and in that time, saith the LORD, the children of Israel shall come, they and the children of Judah together, going and weeping: they shall go, and seek the LORD their God. They shall ask the way to Zion with their faces thitherward, saying, Come, and let us join ourselves to the LORD in a perpetual covenant that shall not be forgotten. My people hath been lost sheep: their shepherds have caused them to go astray, they have turned them away on the mountains: they have gone from mountain to hill, they have forgotten their resting place.” – Jer. 50:4-6

In the past and present, the Good Figs have been as lost sheep and devoured prey; ah, but the judgments served their purpose! With soft hearts and law-attentive ears, the people will one day weep at the hearing of the words of the Law (“For all the people wept, when they heard the words of the Law.” – Neh. 8:9), but that time is not now.

To be Continued…